On Tuesday, a four-part series by our newly formed Health and Safety unit launches with an overview of the ultimate Catch-22: How does a sport with collision at its core rationalize the effects to the past, present and future generations of players?
And is the NFL facing its toughest adversary, not on the field, but in a court of law?
What we love about football might also be what we most loathe. In Part 1, NFL Network and NFL.com sample the voices of the current player, the former quarterback now struggling with severe memory problems, a leading medical expert on concussions, a parent of a concussed youth football player, as well as a man who hopes to change the culture of the sport at the grass roots. These are just some of the faces of the health and safety debate.
This leads to another issue that we'll be exploring over the coming months -- how to balance out the risks and rewards of America's greatest game.
Football stands at a crossroads, and we ponder what the future of the game could look like.
Follow Andrea Kremer on Twitter @Andrea_Kremer.